Quote:Teachers should stop calling bright pupils "clever" for fear they might not be thought "cool" by classmates, a union has been told. Simon Smith, a teacher from Essex, said it was important to avoid a culture which "mocks being clever".

Last year, the PAT voted to replace the word "failure" with "deferred success".

Deferred Success? How on earth are children to prepare for life if they cannot get used to defeat and failure? All of a sudden, they fail their A-levels, or fail a job interview, and what then? No-one will tell them "It's alright, try again".

The UK needs to stop becoming a nanny state. Being Clever is a act of life. Classmates will 'pick on' any child who is different, it is the nature of children! A techer avoiding calling someone clever will not hide 100% test results and general intelligence.

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Well when I was in elementary school we used to have a day just before summer vaction started called the Junior Olympics. They had a cross country run, a 50 yard dash, long jump, etc. I recently heard they put an end to the Junior Olympics because it made the unathletic kids feel like losers. When I was a kid I was never all that athletic. I used to get my butt kicked in all those competitions, yet I still had a great time. We all used to look forward to this day for weeks. I don't understand where this mentality is coming from today. The world is a harsh place. We get rejected from jobs, universities, etc. We were generation-X, now we are creating Generation-P, for Pussies.

Quoting Darrenthe747 (Reply 5):Well when I was in elementary school we used to have a day just before summer vaction started called the Junior Olympics. They had a cross country run, a 50 yard dash, long jump, etc. I recently heard they put an end to the Junior Olympics because it made the unathletic kids feel like losers. When I was a kid I was never all that athletic. I used to get my butt kicked in all those competitions, yet I still had a great time. We all used to look forward to this day for weeks. I don't understand where this mentality is coming from today. The world is a harsh place. We get rejected from jobs, universities, etc. We were generation-X, now we are creating Generation-P, for Pussies.

We had a similar event when I was in school and we all liked it. I can remember playing dodge ball and I'm sure that is outlawed by now. It's come to the point they hand out a trophy just for showing up. We get all of these new rules and stuff and they never come from my elected officials. The unelected seem to have the greater power. If kids today had the fun I had they would either have the S.W.A.T Team after them or be in some sort of radical therapy group while in juvenile detention. Just think I'm typing this and I don't have my safety helmet on.

Attention All Planets of the Solar Federation....We have assumed control.....We have assumed control......

Quoting Darrenthe747 (Reply 5):Well when I was in elementary school we used to have a day just before summer vaction started called the Junior Olympics. They had a cross country run, a 50 yard dash, long jump, etc. I recently heard they put an end to the Junior Olympics because it made the unathletic kids feel like losers. When I was a kid I was never all that athletic. I used to get my butt kicked in all those competitions, yet I still had a great time.

Same here - sports days rejected (in most schools) in favour of 'days promoting teamwork'.

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Do kids still do sports at school? Or is the prospect of deferred success just too frightening for the little darlings?

Best sports we ever did at school were the annual "boys vs masters" games (football, cricket & rugby). The boys would always win, and the games offered a legitimate means of attempting to inflict some physical pain on the teachers that had bullied us all year.

This was fine until a current (at the time) England rugby international became a PE teacher at the school.

That year's rugby game was a nightmare for the boys! For the first time in living memory, one of these games finally became men against boys. We were slaughtered.

They don't seem to do swimming much either. I'm horrified at how many 8 yr olds can't swim. I also do not get the part where schools/LEA's ban sports for health and safety reasons, yet the gov't starts flapping about the amount of obese kids these days.

One of our friends is a teacher near LTN and the guidelines she tells us about are worrying to say the least IMHO. You can't call kids naughty either. She has to say things like "do you think Miss xxx is happy about what you've just done?"

I know growing up as a kid in the late 60's-70's all the motels had deep pools and diving boards. Go try to find one now! Thanks to our personal injury lawyers and the fear insurance companies have that is a thing in the past. Wonder why we have fat kids? We use to play hide and seek. Unless you can down load it they don't play that. If kids did play it you can better believe on the 6 O'clock news they would have scare story of " Are you kids playing hide and seek and do you know the dangers!" I went to Disney World in May 2002 and I thought I was at a fat camp. Skinny parents and fat kids. You go to a hobby store and everything is "Read to Build or Fly", they have no clue how do this stuff. I do a ton of flying model rockets and kids don't do this any more. I'm glad when I grew up as a kid and not now and missed all of the cool stuff. By the way I still collect Hot Wheels!

Attention All Planets of the Solar Federation....We have assumed control.....We have assumed control......

Quoting Piercey (Reply 12):I take offense at that, somewhat, but I have to agree. Hell, I may be a gamer, but that doesn't mean I'll go outside and do something occasionally

I was not trying to offend. I was just trying to state that there are plenty of kids that outside is a punishment. I've played games in my past and lets face it I sit here inside jamming away on A.Net. My point is we have kids that never see the fun I had and it was free! I have no doubt if there was a sudden craze for Hide and Seek we would have some group or Federal/State Agency saying you must have a helmet and the dangers of the game and why we should ban it. I love technology and it is and will always be a part of my life, but there is a life outside of it too.

Attention All Planets of the Solar Federation....We have assumed control.....We have assumed control......

Quoting Scintx (Reply 13):Holy Crap! I had no clue that you had the PC problem that we have in the States. I thought we invented that. That blows my plan to export it to other nations so we can reduce our trade issue.

Another thing that the Europeans are way ahead of us....and I applaude them for it!!! GOOD SHOW, CHAPS!!

I work at a school which teaches kids from ages 5-18, and I am ever constantly amazed at the amount of mollycoddling that these kids get. When I was in school, we were taught that competitiveness was not only healthy but necessary if you want to get ahead. These days it seems that if a certain subject is considered too competitive, then little Freddy can just drop it and take something else. Granted, we do still have sports day, but you'd be amazed at the number of calls I get from parents who bitch and moan because only the better athletes compete.
I also remember, not so long ago, when there was actually punishment for wrongdoing in school. You had detention, or had to pick up trash or something. I actually had a mother call to protest that picking up trash was unfair on her little darling as a punishment (he'd whacked another kid with a cycle helmet)......WTF???

'Somebody tell me why I'm on my own if there's a soulmate for everyone' :Natasha Bedingfield

You can thank over-analyzing, over-therapied "intellectual" parents for these kinds of decisions.

I just had to tell a distant relative (who invited herself to my wedding) that her two kids cannot come because we are not including children. I'm sure she will call me on the carpet for "hurting" her kids' feelings.